


From Dusk 'Til Tawny

by Swashbuckler



Category: Captain Marvel (DC), DCU, DCU (Comics), Shazam (Comics)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Homelessness, Protectiveness, Short & Sweet, Sleep, Tigers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 15:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15003881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swashbuckler/pseuds/Swashbuckler
Summary: Tiger, tiger, burning bright,In Fawcett City late at night,While heroes bold lay down to sleep,You your burning vigil keep.





	From Dusk 'Til Tawny

**Author's Note:**

> This version of Tawny is _not_ the anthropomorphic iteration of the character; he is just a regular tiger akin to the version that appears in the New 52. He is still Billy's friend, though, as some things don't (and shouldn't) change. :)

“C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

“Here? For real?”

“Yeah!”

“Couldn’t we just- I dunno, go hang out in the park at night like normal people?”

“Oh, don’t be such a wuss.” 

“Right, I’m the wuss for not wanting to get arrested.”

“Ha, no one’s gonna arrest us for going in here,” the guy sneered at his friends, jerking his thumb at the dilapidated building. “No one lives here, and it’s always open. No one’s gonna _care._ It’s not like we could make the place any _worse_.”

“True,” one of the girls said. Even in the poor evening light, there was no missing the boarded up windows and the worn, crumbling brickwork. 

“Is it even safe?” another girl asked as they walked up the path. “It could’ve rotted from the rain - pretty sure I can see a hole in the roof.”

“Yeah,” agreed the guy next to her. “We don’t want anyone falling through the floor or something.”

“You guys are so freaking boring,” the guy leading his friends muttered, digging his phone out of his back pocket. “Next you’ll be telling me it’s bedtime,” he simpered, wiggling his phone screen at them to show it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet. He clicked open the torch on his phone, holding it ahead of him as he twisted the door handle and shouldered it open.

“Don’t call us babies when you were the one ready to throw a strop when we said we didn’t want to come,” muttered one of the girls, shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets as he turned his back. The guy next to her smothered a laugh as the four teenagers stepped into the house. Following their friend’s lead, they all fished their phones out of pockets, shining light on the walls and floor. Something caught the eye of one of the girls, and she reached out a hand to tap her friend’s arm.

“Hey, look at this.” 

The other girl frowned at the wall her friend had lit up. “Are those drawings?” 

“What the hell?” the guy in front said, shouldering the girls apart so he could see. Over a patch of the wall had been stuck a bunch of loose, colour pencil drawings. 

“That’s weird, right?” the other guy said, nodding at the sketches and scribbles that decorated the wall in a trail. “No one’s lived here in ages - you said that.” 

“I never said I knew when people lived here, I just said no one did,” the guy shrugged. “C’mon, it’s probably just some weird kids’ community project.” 

“Still kinda creepy,” one of the girls murmured. “They don’t look old.” 

“Yeah.”

The guy in the lead kicked a fleck of brick, sending it skittering across the floorboards. “What, you think a ghost drew them?” he sniggered. He found another chunk of brick and kicked that too - it rattled across the floor, clattering against the wall.

“What was that?” 

_These guys are so stupid, _the guy thought. “It was me, you idiots.”__

__“What, the growling noise?”_ _

__“Growling?”_ _

__“Yeah.”_ _

__“Maybe it was a fox or something?” one of the girls suggested quietly._ _

__“I dunno,” the guy said with a scoff over his shoulder, “I didn’t hear anythi-” And then he did hear it._ _

__A white point of light from one of his friend’s phones slid across the floor to a dark doorway._ _

__“Tha- Tha- Th- That’s not a f-” the other girl forced out hoarsely as the white light of her friend’s phone moulded around two heavy, bronze, distinctly clawed paws. The light trembled as the group all stared in horror into the yellow eyes of the tiger that was stood watching them and growling._ _

__“What do we do?” squeaked one of the group._ _

__“W-we-” The tiger lowered its head, eyes fixed on the group as its lip curled back in a snarl that showed many, many teeth. “Run!”_ _

__The group threw themselves blindly back towards the door scrambling to be the first to get out. The tiger snarled and bit at the air in front of it until all four of the group were gone, the door slamming shut behind them. The frantic cries and footfalls of the teenagers could be heard as they raced down the street._ _

__Happy with the development, the tiger yawned widely, teeth on full display and tongue rolling out as it sat back on its hind legs. Its ear flicked at the tiny noise from the room it had emerged from. The tiger stood again, trotting back into the room as something on the mattress on the floor rustled and rolled over._ _

__“Tawny?” came the confused, slurred murmur. When the boy made to sit up, the tiger pressed its nose to the boy’s chest, nudging him back down._ _

__The boy complied, squinting blearily at the mass that stepped over him, his skinny frame being rocked as the tiger’s weight pressed down on the old mattress. The tiger moved around in a circle before lowering itself to lie beside the boy covered in a large coat._ _

__“Wasomethinwrong?” Billy slurred, his eyes drooping. Tawny yawned again, unhurried, and licked a kiss over the boy’s hair, a purr rattling in its chest._ _

__“Okay,” Billy murmured, unable to keep his eyes open any longer. He wriggled under his coat, rolling onto his side. Tawny mirrored him, flopping onto his side and draping a heavy paw over his friend, ushering him closer as the boy buried his face in the thick fluff of Tawny’s neck._ _

__The tiger blinked slowly, resting his head beside Billy's, and continued to purr._ _

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic. It does not contain a single Flash Rogue. _What._
> 
> I wanted to write something sweet involving Tawny protecting Billy and acting like a big pussycat toward him. So I did. :D
> 
> [Also - while it didn't directly inspire this fic, I found this piece of fanart of Billy and Tawny which is very similar to what I've written and I just have to share it because it's so sweet! _https://sen1227.tumblr.com/post/158024259476/shazam-and-tawny#notes_ ]


End file.
